Rating the prospects

Julie Krone has never met Rosie Napravnik in person, but the greatest woman jockey ever shares texts and Facebook posts with Napravnik, a 25-year-old woman rider who has become one of the top jockeys in the nation.

“I cannot tell you the vicarious joy that I am feeling as I watch Rosie Napravnik ride and win,” said Krone, who lives in Carlsbad and in October will be inducted into the prestigious National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, N.Y., home of the Women’s Rights movement.

“And besides that, Wayne Lukas bet me $10,000 that a woman jockey will never win the Kentucky Derby. For Rosie to win the Derby, it would be really good for racing and a really good promotion for the sport. And I’ll win that $10,000 from Wayne Lukas.”

Last week, Napravnik scored her 1,500th win after a breakthrough season in which she broke long-standing records set by Krone. She finished eighth in the year-end jockey standings and earned $12,451,713. Krone finished ninth in the jockey year-end standings twice, in 1988 and 1992. Napravnik entered this weekend’s big Derby prep races leading the nation’s jockey’s with 93 wins, and her $3,286,337 in earnings is fourth and one big stakes win away from Javier Castellano’s nation-leading earnings of $3,559, 020.

Krone was the first to win a Triple Crown race, the Belmont Stakes aboard Colonial Affair in 1993, and the first to win a Breeders’ Cup race, the Juvenile Fillies aboard Halfbridled in 2003.

Napravnik became the first female jockey to win the Kentucky Oaks when she rode Believe You Can last year. In 2011 she rode Pants On Fire to a ninth-place Kentucky Derby finish, the best ever for a female jockey. Krone finished 11th aboard Suave Prospect in 1995 and 14th with Ecstatic Ride in 1992. Krone and Napravnik are two of only six women jockeys to ever ride in the Derby. Diane Crump was the first, finishing 15th in the 1970 Kentucky Derby aboard Fathom.

Napravnik rides Shanghai Bobby at Gulfstream Park today in the Florida Derby, an important Kentucky Derby prep. Despite winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile World Championship at Santa Anita in November, when Napravnik seemed to bring the big colt back from the dead in the stretch, Shanghai Bobby needs a big showing in his rematch with Itsmyluckyday, who gave him his first loss in the Holy Bull. Shanghai Bobby has 24 Derby qualifying points, but the Florida Derby will kick out 100 points to the winner, 40 points for second, 20 for third and 10 for fourth. He needs a share of that to get into the Derby.

“Even in defeat, I think (the Holy Bull) was one of his best races,” said Napravnik, who is from New Jersey but has a home with her husband in New Orleans, where Mayor Mitch Landrieu gave her the Key to the City. “It’s just that he’s a horse that is really well put together. He’s extremely athletic and he’s very talented.”

Napravnik said there’s a big reason she’s been riding better the last two years.

“My body probably is as sound as it’s ever been,” she said. “I’ve had issues with my back, and I’ve always had issues with my legs. But I’m feeling better than ever and I’m having a great meet at the Fair Grounds. Everything has been really positive.”

Jack Wolf, one of the principals of Starlight Racing, said of Napravnik: “She’s a very good rider who just happens to be a woman. She’s just unflappable. She’s cool and obviously comfortable on these horses.”

Trainer Larry Jones has become a big believer in Napravnik. Jones entrusted his super filly, Believe You Can, to her last May in the Kentucky Oaks.

“You can almost classify her as just ‘jockey,’ now,” Jones said. “You don’t have to put ‘woman’ on there anymore. She’s talented. And horses love to run for her. She’s a terrific horseperson. If she can stay healthy, believe me, she’ll go down in the history book.”

Steve Cauthen, the last jockey to win the Triple Crown when he rode Affirmed in 1978, raced against Krone and has kept a close watch on Napravnik.

“Julie Krone was the best female jockey who ever rode,” Cauthen said. “I think a lot of it was her mentality. She was mentally tough in a race. She didn’t give an inch. Rosie Napravnik is from the same sort of stuff. She looks good on a horse. She’s strong and she looks like she has that mental toughness a lot of women don’t totally have.”